Book Review: A Hundred Other Girls by Iman Hariri-Kia

A Hundred Other Girls by Iman Hariri-Kia is about a young woman named Noora who lands a job that a hundred other girls would be dying to get. She’s Loretta James’s assistant at Vinyl. She’s always dreamed of being a writer and blogger in New York City. However, Loretta James is a nightmare to work with—the equivalent to Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada. I adored this novel and here’s why you should add A Hundred Other Girls to your tbr pile!

Right away, I was immediately intrigued by Loretta James who is best described as a nightmare from hell to work with. She’s the kind of boss others avoid if they can but could also help you get to where you want to be due to the connections she has. In Noora’s case, working for Loretta James is her one-way ticket to making all of Noora’s dreams come true—at least all of her career dreams.

Just like Andy in The Devil Wears Prada wants to be a journalist, Noora’s also an aspiring writer. The major difference is that Noora is a first-generation American and I loved that this story highlights the struggles Noora goes through on a daily basis as a first-generation American like people not knowing how to pronounce her name and asking where she’s really from. This book has a diverse cast where characters are not just their diverse labels. For instance, Noora is a Middle Eastern character but she doesn’t overexplain her culture. Readers get to see a diverse group of characters thriving in their lives. Noora’s got to figure out the toxic workplace environment and deals with an unsupportive sister.

According to Iman’s TikTok videos, A Hundred Other Girls is also loosely inspired by Iman’s time working in publishing. Iman is the former Sex & Relationships Editor at Bustle and is a contributing writer for Teen Vogue. In an interview with The Daily Californian, A Hundred Other Girls was initially called Clickbait loosely based on her experiences from her very first job. Furthermore, this book does not shy away from the experiences that immigrant families dealt with in a post-9/11 New York City life. The dialogue in this book is more modern and I loved the easter eggs for fans of The Bold Type.

I would have loved to see more scenes with Leila and Noora. Leila is Noora’s sister. I felt like there was a slight disconnect on why Leila was not supportive of Noora’s career aspirations. Noora and Leila have such distinct personalities which is what made their scenes so much fun to read, but it was unclear why Leila did not support Noora’s dream to be a writer. I also thought that it would have been nice to see specific examples of how Loretta gaslights Noora.

Some of my favorite parts of this book are the fact that it talks about society and media. It also did not shy away from discussing islamophobia. As a Muslim reader, this was something I enjoyed seeing in a book. I wasn’t entirely expecting it based on the synopsis so this was a pleasant surprise. I would love to see what Iman writes next. Her characters are fun and extremely opinionated.

Final thoughts: A Hundred Other Girls is a book you don’t want to miss! If you’re a fan of the way Nisha Sharma has opinionated characters, The Bold Type, and The Devil Wears Prada then this is one you need to pick up.

Disclaimer: Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of this book!